Final Fantasy III

The last classic FF to reach UK shores gets a beautiful remake

Monday 22 May 2006 Final Fantasy III, the last game in the series to finally make it out of Japan,is being remade from scratch for Nintendo DS. Featuring full 3D graphics and tweaked gameplay, this is another adventure that fans who loved the GBA remakes will gobble up.

According to the team behind the game, the idea was not to give a whole new experience, but instead to offer the original classic experience in a new way. The result is a game that's about as traditional as can be. But if you've played the GBA Final Fantasy remakes, you know that's nothing to complain about.

Though the original version, released almost 20 years ago, is light on story, the developers have crammed more into the new version. The four characters in your party all have their own personalities and motivations - normal these days, rare then.

But the most exciting thing about the remake is the full 3D graphics, which are so detailed that, according to Square Enix, they've pushedDS to its limit. In fact, they had to be careful to put 3D graphics on only one screen to keep them running smoothly. We're not surprised, after playing the game - it looks fantastic. As a bonus, a full CG intro movie has even been crammed onto the game card.

Since this is a DS game, you can control it with the stylus - where you point, the character will move, and of course it's extremely convenient in the game's menus. All the same, there's nothing you can't do with the buttons and pad, and that's intentional - according to the team, they wanted to preserve the original's gameplay.

So what's the attraction, then? The main thrust of FFIII is the job system, which you might recognize from FFV, FF Tactics or FFX-2. You'll be able to change your character's job - and thus his or her entire set of abilities and equipment - throughout the game. The team will be adding a variety of new different jobs, and balancing everything so that any job will be worth seeing through until the game's very end.